Framework now lets you upgrade its 13 laptop with a 120Hz display, better webcam, and Core Ultra chip

Not only is it now taking pre-orders for another generation of swappable motherboards to give you Intel Core Ultra chips, but the company has also developed a $39 webcam to improve the average image quality of the originals and a detachable display to $269 that replaces your 60 Hz., 2256 x 1504 screen with brighter and higher resolution, variable refresh rate 120Hz 2880 x 1920 panel at 256ppi which should make everything smoother and sharper.

To be clear, you don’t need to buy a new laptop to benefit from these upgrades. They can fit into existing laptops, because of modularity!

The new screen retains the 1,500:1 contrast and anti-glare matte surface of the original, while the webcam now uses pixel binning like a phone, producing more low-light-friendly 1080p video from one sensor 9.2 megapixel OmniVision by combining four pixels each. in one. (Note that Framework has also talked a lot about its original webcam, but we’ve really seen improvements in low light thanks to pixel binning on phones.)

And that’s not all: Framework announces that it is finally opening pre-orders for its first full-size SD card reader expansion module (but only with the purchase of a laptop for now), in launching its USB-C module in four new colors, allowing you to configure an English keyboard. keyboard with a “Super” key instead of the Windows logo for those of us on Linux, and permanently reducing the prices of its AMD Ryzen 7040 series laptops – AMD and Core Ultra start at $934 for on-the-go storage, RAM, loader and operating system model.

But with AMD, you’ll probably want to pay a little more, because an AMD DIY kit with that new webcam, display, and larger 61Wh battery is only a $150 upgrade at checkout.

With the Core Ultra, you get a larger battery and a new camera by default, with the screen optional for a $130 upgrade.

The new parts (and laptops) will ship in August, and Framework is already taking pre-orders. Note, however, that the new Intel Core Ultra chips here will not meet Microsoft’s Copilot Plus PC specifications for AI applications – Microsoft is looking for an AI coprocessor with more than 40 TOPS of performance, and the first generation Core Ultra chips have more like 16 HIGH. Next-generation Intel chips meeting the specifications will arrive this fall.